The World Wide Web is more aptly named than ever, with Internet access becoming increasingly integral to business, education, science, and many other pursuits. In particular, children are especially dependent on these technologies, and their future careers will likely be determined by their competence in interacting with and employing Internet based technologies.
However, with large networks of digital citizens and various Internet communication platforms, it is often difficult to verify the identity of users to any degree of certainty. The Internet is still very much analogous to the Wild West of old: misrepresentation with aliases and handles abounds, impersonation and identity theft are all too common, and citizens may hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to engage in behavior which they would altogether avoid if they were responsible or accountable for their actions. Consequently, many parents are apprehensive of allowing their children to roam freely online, depriving them of unparalleled educational opportunities and valuable experience with Internet technology.
Moreover, other parties besides parents also have an interest in verifying the identity of users. For example, employers may seek to verify the background and identity of potential employees during the screening and hiring process. Parties to commercial and financial transactions may seek to verify the authenticity of the other party in order to mitigate the risk of doing business with pseudonymous and anonymous parties.
Conventionally, such verification may be carried out using security measures such as CAPTCHA and two-step verification. However, such security measures often inconvenience the user and introduce an undesirable amount of complexity, which may be particularly problematic for children and other users.